Packing machine



Sept. 2, 1941. D. w. MOLINS ETAL PACKING MACHINE Filed March 22, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 2, 1941. .D. w. MOLINS ETAL PACKING MACHINE Filed March 22, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 2, 1941. D. w. MOLINS ETAL 2,254,971

PACKING MACHINE Filed March 22, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Mvanfor Patented Sept. 2, 1941 are T or rice England aiieiiafib i Ma'rcijza 1939, serial N6; 263562 In Qreat Britain April 6, 1938 13 Claims. (01.2% V

This invention is for improvements or; relating to, packing machines by means of which n. art is inser edin' o a 1 9K Ott n in which alidis connectedto one side ofthe box and a closure flapjs connected with the. side of thelid oppositethatside of the lid which is con-v nected to. the box. Such boxes will be referred to inthaappended claims as boxes of the kind described/I vThexterm farticle when used herein. and in the appended claims is to includeea, batch. of. articles, such for example as a batch of cigarette packages.

1 It has hithe rto been customary in machines for inserting an arti cle into a box of thekinddescribed to feedto the machine the boxes already opened, to receive the article. and because it .is not, possible satisfactorily to feed the opened boxes automatically from known magazines the boxes have previously been" fed manually'one at a time-to the machines. .j r a .The term fanwise arranged boxes used hereinand in the appended claims meansanarrange ment of a' succession of boxes in'which 'all the boxes'of the succession are nested byinserting only one. and the same end of each box into the corresponding end of the next box'. Thus the bottoms-of successive boxes converge and the angles formed by the bottoms of a plurality of successive boxes are all arranged to diverge outwardly and the lids of the nested boxesall been the same side of the nest. H

It is an object of the invention to provide mechanism whereby fanwise arrang'ed boxes of the kinddescribed can be fed to a box filling machinel This object is achieved according to one aspect of the inventionbynieans of asupport rotatable in one'd irection about a -fixed axis and adapted to move fa nwise arranged boxes towards a transfer device arranged toengage the lid'or the nsure flap of the leading box and to move the box transversely toithe directio n of movement of the support and away from the axis of rotation of the support to separate the leading;

box'pfrom v the: others.

A further object of theinvention is to provide mechanism for positioning a .box accurately: in a filling position, and this object islobtained by p'l-acin gjthe box on a movable platform which tendstdinove'thebox.away from the filling position-and providingmeans. movable into and out of thepath of a boxonltheplatform; such means being adapt ed to locate the/box in the filling positionand to retain the box in such position until the box is filled,

The invention will be. described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in Which v Figure l isanelevationof an apparatus for feeding opened boxes oi the kind described, a part of the apparatus at the right hand side of the figure being broken away.

.. Figure 2 is a plan of the upper part of Figure Land shows the parts which were omitted from Figurell v Figure 3Uis a view, partly in section, taken in the direction of the arrow A, Figure 1, some parts being omitted for the-sake of clarity.

Figure t is a perspective view of an opened box of-the kind described. I

Figures 5 and 6 show an elevation and plan respectively of a box locating device which has been omittedifrom Figure 2 for;the sake of clearness.

Like reference numerals refer to "like parts throughout the specification and drawings."

Referring to the drawings, opened boxes as shown inFigure 4 are placed fanwise on arotatable support. As can be seen from Figure 4, a box comprises a body a, alid b-connected to one side ofthebody portion and a closure flap c which is connected by a score or crease line e with the side of the lid opposite that side. of the lid which is connected to the body" of the box. The ends of-thebox are also providedwith small flaps d. The rotatable support comprises a disc! mounted for rotation in one direction about va fixed axis. The disc I is rotatably mounted in a bearing. 2 whichjis fixed to a bracket 3 which latter is fixed tozthe'end faceof a bed 4 which forms part of a box filling machine.

Theianwise arrangement of the boxes on the support is indicated in Figure 2 .in which figure thei leading box is shown in lines consistingof dashesiseparated by three dots, while the next box isshownby lines consisting of dashes sep{ With the apparatus placed on the rotatable support so that the lids and closure flaps of the boxes are uppermost.

A guard 5 carried on a support 6 (Figure 2) is mounted adjacent to the rim of the disc and serves to prevent the boxes being thrown too far outwardly by centrifugal force during rotation of the disc I.

From Figure 2 it will be seen that the closure flap of the leading box has been caused by the rotation of the disc I, which moves in the direction indicated by the arrow, to engage a locating device which consists of a fixed plate 'I to which is secured a pair of converging guideplates, 8

and 9 arranged substantially in the form of a; V. This V may be seen more clearly from Figure 1 where the guides are sectioned to show" their shape.

The closure flap 0 of the leading box is guided by. the guide plates 8 and 9 into engagement with the plate I and the engagement of the closure flap with the plate I causes the boxes on the support I to be arrested. I

It is sometimes found that if the guard is rigid the boxes have a tendency to jam against the guard 5 when the boxes on the support are arrested, with the result that the feeding of the boxes by the support may be disturbed. To avoid this difficulty the guard 5 is flexible and is fixed to the support 6. The end of the guard which is nearest to the guide plates 8 and 9 is connected with a lever I61 pivoted at I68 to a bracket I69. The lever I61 carries a roller I'IIJ which engages a cam IIl fixed to a pulley 56 and the cam is arranged to cause the guard to be vibrated so as to be moved away from the outer ends of the boxes when the support operates to move the boxes forwardly after a box which has been located by the guide plates 8 and 9 has been removed from the fanwise arrangement on the support. The roller I10 is held in engagement with the cam III by a spring I12.

Since the boxes may have moved slightly relatively to one another due to centrifugal force each box after it has engaged the plate 'I is engaged by a first adjusting stop comprising a plate I8 (Figures 5 and 6) which is fixed to a lever I9. The lever I9 is pivoted to a spindle 80 mounted in a bearing fixed to the plate I. The upper end of the spindle 80 has a lever 8| fixed thereto and the lever M is connected to a cam link 82 on which is mounted a roller 63 (Figure 1) which engages a cam 84 fixed to the front face of a rotatable segmental disc l0. As the segmentaldisc Ill rotates the link 82 is moved to and fro by the cam in conjunction with a spring 85 and the plate I8 is moved thereby from the position shown in full lines in Figure 6 to the position shown in broken lines. When the leading box engages the plate I the plate 18 is in the position shown by broken lines in Figure 6 and the plate I8 is then moved into the position shown in full lines, thus engaging the inside of the rear end of the box and, if necessary, moves the box rearwardly, that is to the right of Figure 1, until the box occupies the desired position as determined by the extent of rearward movement of the plate I8.

When the leading box has, in the manner described above, been adjusted and located in the position shown in Figure 2 it is located relatively to a transfer device and the closure flap 0 of the box is disposed between the peripheries of a rotatable segmental disc I0 and a roller II which comprise the transfer device. The segmental disc I0 is positively rotated in the direction indicated in Figure 1 and co-operates with the roller I I to move the leading box transversely to the direction of movement of the disc I and away from the axis of rotation of the disc I so as to separate the leading box from the others. The closure flap c ispositioned between the segmental disc I8 and the roller II while that part of the segmental disc which is of smaller diameter is opposed to the roller I 8.

"The transfer device moves the box lengthwise in the'direction of the arrow B (Figure 2), so

- that the underside of the closure flap c is moved into'engagement with a narrow support I2 disposed in a horizontal plane parallel to the plane of therotatable disc.

As will be seen from Figure 3, the support I2 comprises a bar of triangular section having an extension I3 projecting above the flap engaging surface and-against which the closure flap of the boxislocated.

, Above the support I2 there is provided another transfer device comprising a positively rotated segmental disc- I4 which co-operates with a roller l5. This second transfer device is spaced apart from the preceding transfer device in the direction of movement of the box by. the transfer devices, and the box is moved by the transfer devices substantially into a box filling position (see dot and dash lines indicating the box in this position in Figure 1).

When 'the' box has reached this position, the closure flap is retained in engagement with the support I 2 and the body of the box together with the lid is cause'd to turn about the score line e so that the body is moved through substantially to the position shown in Figure 3, at which position the bottom of the box rests on a platform which, in the example shown, consists of a travelling band or belt I6.

While the box is in this position an article may be moved downwardly in the direction of the arrow C into the box. It will also be seen from Figure 3 that the lid 17 is inclined away from the open end of the box towards the closure flap so as not to impede the downward movement of an article into the box.

The mechanism for inserting an article into a box forms no part of the present invention, but preferably comprises mechanism as described and claimed in the specification accompanying copending United States application Serial No. 263,563, of even date.

In order to assist in locating the box in its proper position on the platform I6 there are provided various stops and movable flaps which act in the following manner.

The closure flap c is gripped between the segmental disc I4 and the roller I5, until the feeding movement ceases and until the box is moved completely off of the rotatable support I it is in the horizontal position shown in full lines in Figure 3. The weight of the box, once it is moved completely off of the support I, tends to turn the lid and the body about the score line e and this movement of the. body and the lid is assisted by an oscillating flap H. In order to retain the closure flap c in position on the support I2 after the second transfer device ceases to grip the flap,-

a flap engaging device comprising small freely rotatable'rollers I66 are mounted above the supportl2 and co-operate therewith fri-ctionally to engage the closureflap and to retain the closure flap in position while the body portion of the box is beingturned about the scoreline'e." The'flap l1 isfixed to a spindle la'which is supported in bearings 19 depending from a support bar 20' which also c'ar'riesth-e spindlesof the segmental disc's land [4; The support bar zdis'carried by a plate 2| fix'e'dto one end of: the bed 4'and a bracket 22 fixed to" the upper surface of such bed. The spindle I8 is also supported inabear ing 23fixe'd to the bracket'22 and carries at its outer end'a lever 24towhic'h is connected a link 25 which is bent as showln in'Figure 3 so that'it has a right angled extension; The'end'of the extension is pivoted to a cam lever 36'ca'rrying' aroller 2! which engages with a cam28 and the other end of the lever 26 is pivotedat 29 to a bracket 30 fixed tothe bed 4. As the 'calm 28, which is driven as hereafter described; is'rot'ate'd the flap I! is caused to oscillate through approxi-' mately 90 thus causing "the box body and lid'to be positively bent about the" front edge of the triangular bar and brought into position above'the belt It; The support IZ'i's slotted at88(s'ee Figure 1) to clear the box flaps dduring'this movement. i p

An oscillating pusher element 3| ispr'ovidedto engage the box body and'push it intop o'sition above the belt the side of the' box-opposite that engaged by the pusher element being pressed against an angle stop 32, see Figure 31 The method of operating the pusher element 3! will be described later; I

As it is desirable to locate the boxaccurately in the filling position the 'second'transferdevice is arranged tomove the leadingen dof the box slightly past th'e'fillin'g position and'the boxis then-moved rearwardly" towards the filling posi-' tion. This rearward movement is effected {by a second adjusting stop comprising'arneinber 33 which is' pivoted at 34 to the support bar and which is moved byiia cam 35and an angle piece l'64 which ismount'ed on a bar J6! slidably carried on the plate IT. The bar IEI see'l iguref 1) iscarried on guide pins I32 and. l63attached to the hinge pieces of the plate I11 andis urged towards the member 33 by a spring I6 5. The cam engages a roller 86', and a spring 81 returns the member 33. The member33 isec'aused to engage with the angle piece lfi4and'the latter engages the leading edge of the boxllid' and pushes it back slightly beyondits c'orrectpo'si tion. after which astop 36 moves into thep'ath of the box which is then carried along by the movement of the belt [3, which latter travelsin the direction indicated. until it is: stopped by said stop 36, when the box isin its'p'ropr posi-T tion'for receiving the article. The,angle'piece I64 swings with the plate 11 and is therefore moved out of the path of a box when the latter is moved by the belt l6 'away' from thefilli'ng position.- Rearward movement .of a box" by the angle piece I54 and member 33 causesthe leading flap d-to be engaged by a downwardly-projecting element (not shown) which causes the flap d to be moved away from the open end of the box into a position such as that indicated in Figure 1 so that the flap does not interfere with the subsequent filling of the'box: Thefiap d at the rear end of 'thebox is also moved into a position so as not to-interfere withthe filling of the box; and this movement isalso afiectedby downwardly projecting elements one ofwhich comprises a tapered guide l66 which' drags the rear flap d backwardly as thebox' is b'eingswung downwardly towards the filling-position by the plate IT. When the box is'in the filling position the rear flap dis not'engaged by the guide I66? but by a further downwardly directed element (not shown).

The pusher element3i is'fixed to alever 31 which is in turn fixed toa spindle 38 mounted in a bearing 39 fixed'to the base of the bed. A cam 40" driven in the manner hereinafter de scribed engages a roller mounted on the lever 31 and operates the pusher element 3| at the desired intervals in conjunctionwith'a spring 42.

The stop'36 is carried on alever 43 fixed to the spindle 38 and operated by a cam 44 which engages a'roll'er 45'on the lever 43'and in conjunction with a spring 46'operates the stop 36'' at, the desired intervals.

The machine is driven from a shaft 41 which is rotated from any convenient source of power. The shaft 47' is supported in a bearing 48 attached'tothe back of the bed 4, see Figure3,

and has a bevel gear wheel 491at thee'nd ad ja'cen't to such bearing, which bevel gear wheel engages with'afurther bevel gear 50 mounted on a cross shaft 5i supported in bearings in the bed 41 The other end of the shaft 5! has a bevel pinion 52 engaging a bevel gear wheel 53 fixed to a camshaft E'Q'supported in bearings 55 fixed to the fr'ontface of the bed. An extension of the cam shaft 54 has a V-pulle'y' 56 fixed to it which drives a pulley 51 fixed to the base of the disc I by a belt 58whioh passes over jockey pulleys '59.. V o i On the spindle 51 at a point near the bevel gear 50 is'fixed a sprocket 63 which driv-esan' upper sprocket 5-! by means of a chain 62, the sprocket 3! being fixed to' a spindle 63 which is mounted in 'a bearing bracket 64 fixedto thefbed of the machine. The other end of the spindle 63 carries a small sprocket 6 5 which drives the segmental discs l0 and I4 by means of a chain 66 which passes over sprockets {Hand 63 fixed to the segmental discs; the chain also passes over jockeys 69, Figure'll It will'beobserved from? Figuresl and2 that the cam 35' is'fiexd to the spindle 63.

From Figure 1 it will be seen that the cam shaft 54 carries the cams 4a, 44 and 23. It alsd, carries anothercam 18 which engages witha roller' H fixed toone end of alever l2 pivoted at 13 to a bracket fixed to the bottom of the bed, The other end of the lever 12 is connected by a link 14 to plates 15 which form supports forthe roller l6 around which the belt I 6 passes. The remote ends of the frame I5 are pivoted at a'point T! which is several feet away from the parts shownin the drawings. and as the cam 73 rotates the pen is is lowered from the position shown for a distance sufiicient to permit the body portion of "th.-e box freely to be'swung into position above the'b'elt before being engaged by'thef belt;

From the foregoing description it will be seen that thefir'st and second adjusting stops are movable in timedrelationship with the transfer de vice; the stop 36 is movablein' timed relationship with the pusher element 3| and the secondad-, justing stop, the platform lG is movable towards andaway from the filling position in timed relationship with the movements of the pusher element 3|, and the second adjusting stop is movable in timed relationship with the transfer device. i

A box on the belt I6 is released by the stop '36 after a box has been filled, and'the removal'of the stop 36 from the path of the box permits the belt l6.to move the. box in the same general direction as thatin which it is moved by the transfer device and away from the fillingposition.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1..In' apparatus for filling boxes of the kind described, a support for fanwise arranged boxes, said support being continuously rotatable in one direction'about a fixed axis, a transfer device adapted to engage a closure element of the leadingbox on the support and to move the box transversely to the direction of movement of the support and away from the axis of rotation of the support to separate the leading box from the others, and a locating device to locate the closure fiapfof the leading-box in position to be engaged by the transfer device and substantially to arrest the movement of the boxes on the support.

.' 2. In apparatus for filling boxes of the kind described, a support for fanwise arranged boxes,

said support being continuously rotatable in one direction about a fixed axis, a transfer device adapted to engage a closure element of the leading box on the support and to move the box transversely to the direction of movement of the support and away from the axis of rotation of the support to separate the leading box from the others, a locating device to locate the closure flap of the leading box in position to be engaged by the transfer device and substantially to arrest the movement of the boxes on the support, and a first adjusting stop movable in timed relationship with the transfer device to engage the inner side of the rear end face of a box engaged by the locating device and to move the box rearwardly to position the box relatively to the transfer device.

3. In apparatus for filling boxes of the kind described, a support for fanwise arranged boxes, said support being rotatable in one direction about a fixed axis, a transfer device to engage the leading box on the support and to move the box transversely to the direction of movement of the support to separate the leading box from the others, a flap engaging device to engage and retain in position the closure flap of a boxdelivered by said transfer device, and a pusher element to engage the body portion of a box so retained and to-move the body portion of the box towards a filling position.

4. In apparatus for filling boxes of the kind described, a support for fanwise arranged boxes, said support being rotatable in one direction about a fixed axis, a transfer device to engage the leading box on the support and to move the box transversely to the direction of movement of the support to separate the leading box from the others, a platform to engage the bottom of a box at a filling position, a 'fiap engaging device arranged frictionally to engage and retain in position the closure fiap of a box delivered by said transfer device, and a pusher element to engage the body portion of a box so retained and to swing said body portion about the connection between the lid and the closure fiap of the box so that the body portion is move towards the filling position and above said platform. 5. In apparatus for filling boxes of the kind described, a support for fanwise arranged boxes, said support being rotatable in one direction about a fixed axis, a transfer device to engage the leading box on the support and to move the box transversely to the direction of movement of the support to separate the leading box from the others',ia platform to engage the bottom of a box at a fillingposition, a fiap engaging device arranged frictionally to engage and retain in position the;cl0sure flap ,of a box delivered by said transfer'device, and a pusher element to engage the body portion of a box so retained and to swing said body portion about the connection between the lid andthe closure flap of the box so thatthe body portion is moved towards the filling position and above said platform, said platform being movable towards and away from the filling position in timed relationship with the movements of said pusher element to permit the body portion of the box freely to be swung into position above the platform. j

6.'In apparatus for filling boxes of the kind described, a support for fanwise arranged boxes, said support being rotatable in one direction about a fixed axis,a transfer device to engage the leading box on the support and to move the box transversely to'the direction of movement of the support to 'separate'the leading box from the others, an endless band adapted to support a box in the filling position and to move the box away from said position after the box isfilled, a flap engaging device arranged frictionally to engage and retain in position the closure flap of a box delivered by said transfer device, a pusher element to engage the body of a box so retained and to swing the body about the connection between the lid and the closure flap of the box so that the body is moved towards the filling position and above said band, and means operative in timed relationship with the pusher element to swing said band upwardlyand downwardly to permit the box body freely to be swung into position above said band.

'7. In apparatus for filling boxes of the kind described, a transfer device to feed the leading end of a box slightly past the filling position, an-adjusting stop to engage the leading end of the box. and -to move the box rearwardly so that the leading end of the box occupies a position in advance of the position to be occupied at the filling position, an endless movable band to support the box and to move the box towards the filling position, and a stop operative in timed relationship with said adjusting stop to engage the leading endface of an adjusted box and thereby to arrest the movement of the box by said band until the box is filled and to locate the box in the .filling position.

8,.In apparatus forfilling boxes of the kind described, a transfer device to separate the leading box from a fanwisearrangement of boxes and. to move the separated box towards a filling position, a rotatable support to move fanwise arranged boxes towards the transfer device, an endless continuously movableband to move a box away fromthe filling position and to support the box at suchposition, and means to locate a box in the filling position. I

9. In apparatus for filling boxes of the kind described, a transfer device to separate the leading box from a fanwise arrangement of boxes and to move the separated box towards a filling position, a rotatable support to move fanwise arranged boxes towards the transfer device, an endless continuously movable band to move a box away from the filling 'position and to support the box at such position, means to move said band in an upward and a downward direction to permit the body portion of a box to be moved above the band, and means to locate a box in the filling position.

10. In apparatus for filling boxes of the kind described, a transfer device to separate the leading box from a fanwise arrangement of boxes and to move the separated box towards a filling position, a rotatable support to move fanwise arranged boxes towards the transfer device, an endless continuously movable band to move a box away from the filling position and to support the box at such position, an adjusting stop to move the box in a direction reverse to the direction of movement of said band to a position such that the leading end of a box is disposed in advance of the filling position, and a stop operative in timed relationship with said adjusting stop to engage the leading end of an adjusted box and thereby to locate the box in the filling position and to retain the box in such position during the filling of the box.

11. In apparatus for filling boxes of the kind described, a rotatable support for fanwise arranged nested boxes, a transfer device movable in a plane different from the plane of the rotating support, and means for rotating said support to move said boxes in a circular path with their nested ends nearest the axis of rotation, and to I successively position the leading elements of said boxes at the plane of movement of said transfer device, the latter having mean-s to successively engage the boxes of said fanwise arrangement and move them transversely of said path and away from said axis, whereby said boxes are successively disengaged from said fanwise arrangement without disturbing the remaining boxes.

12. In apparatus for filling boxes of the kind described, a rotatable support for fanwise arranged nested boxes, a transfer device movable in a plane difierent from the plane of the rotating support, and means for rotating said support to move said boxes in a circular path with their nested ends nearest the axis of rotation, and to successively position the closure elements of said boxes at the plane of movement of said transfer device, the latter having means to successively engage closure elements of said respective boxes and to move said boxes transversely of said path and away from said axis, whereby said boxes are successively disengaged from said fanwise arrangement without disturbing the remaining boxes.

13. In apparatus for filling boxes of the kind described, a rotatable support for fanwise arranged nested boxes, a transfer device movable in a plane difierent from the plane of the rotating support, and means for rotating said support to move said boxes in a circular path with their nested ends nearest the axis of rotation, and to successively position the leading elements of said boxes at the plane of movement of said transfer device, the latter having means to successively engage the boxes of said fanwise arrangement and move them transversely of said path and towards a filling position, whereby said boxes are successively disengaged from said fanwise arrangement without disturbing the remaining boxes, and means to successively locate said boxes at said filling position.

DESMOND WALTER MOLINS. FRANK PARRY. 

